COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Villanova Puts the Squeeze on No. 1 Orangemen, 93-74

The Big East is anything but the Big Easy.

Top-ranked Syracuse found out just how difficult it can be Saturday night when sophomore Greg Woodard scored 27 points to lead Villanova past the Orangemen, 93-74, in front of 32,529 at Syracuse, N.Y.

It was Syracuse’s first loss of the season and ended a 15-game home winning streak over the past two seasons.

“It’s a tremendous win for our program and ranks as one of the best we’ve ever had,” said Villanova Coach Rollie Massimino, whose team made a school-record 43 free throws, including 19 in the final 4:14 when the Wildcats held off a Syracuse rally.

“This is as good as beating Georgetown in 1985 for the national championship and beating North Carolina when they were No. 1 (in 1985),” Massimino said. “Our people played their hearts out.”

Woodard, a 6-foot-6 guard who attended high school in Rochester, N.Y., made 16 of 17 free throws.

Villanova (9-6 overall, 2-1 in the Big East) posted its first victory in the Carrier Dome since 1982.

Senior center Tom Greis had 16 points for the Wildcats, who upset Syracuse, 75-73, in Philadelphia last season.

Syracuse (10-1, 1-1) trailed, 67-46, with 8:25 left, but closed to 72-65 with 4:17 left with the help of a full-court press. Woodard, however, was eight for eight at the line to lead Villanova’s 19-of-21 foul shooting down the stretch.

OTHER TOP 25 TEAMS

No. 2 Kansas 94, Winthrop 51--Terry Brown scored 24 points, including six three-pointers, powering the unbeaten Jayhawks at Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas (15-0) led by 19 at halftime and pulled away to its 10th consecutive home victory. Brown made two three pointers within 38 seconds to help Kansas take a 69-30 lead midway through the second half.

No. 3 Georgetown 93, Providence 91--Mark Tillmon’s three-point shot with 52 seconds left capped a 39-point performance by the senior guard that lifted the Hoyas in a Big East game at Landover, Md.

Georgetown, (11-0, 2-0), which trailed by six points with 5:32 left, has won 26 in a row at home. Providence stopped Georgetown’s strong inside game led by Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo, but could not contain Tillmon.

No. 6 Oklahoma 66, Colorado 61--The Sooners were held to their lowest output of the season in a Big Eight opener at Boulder, Colo.

Tony Martin scored 22 points for Oklahoma (10-0), and Reggie Morton scored 22 points for Colorado (7-6).

No. 7 Missouri 78, Oklahoma State 68--Nathan Buntin scored 25 points as the Tigers battled foul trouble and the illness of three players in their Big Eight opener at Columbia, Mo.

Missouri (13-1) played without Anthony Peeler, who spent Friday night in the hospital with the flu. John McIntyre and Travis Ford played with the flu, and Lee Coward played after missing two games with a cracked rib.

No. 11 Louisiana State 77, Auburn 70--Chris Jackson scored 25 points to lead the Tigers in a Southeastern Conference game at Auburn, Ala.

Auburn (3-9, 0-2) rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half and went ahead by one with about 12 minutes remaining, but Jackson scored six consecutive points to put LSU (8-2, 1-1) ahead for good.

No. 12 Georgia Tech 91, Wake Forest 79--Dennis Scott scored 36 points for the Yellow Jackets in Atlantic Coast Conference action at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Georgia Tech (10-0, 1-0) increased a 42-36 halftime lead to 19 points when freshman guard Kenny Anderson made a free throw with 4:37 left.

No. 13 Duke 76, Virginia 68--The Blue Devils survived John Crotty’s 22 second-half points in an ACC game at Durham, N.C.

Duke won its 16th consecutive game over Virginia, dating to 1984, and won its seventh in a row this season.

No. 14 Arkansas 92, Texas Tech 75--The Razorbacks used a tenacious full-court press and Lee Mayberry’s 24 points in a Southwest Conference game at Lubbock, Tex.

Oliver Miller scored 16 and Ron Huery added 14 for Arkansas (10-2, 2-0).

No. 16 St. John’s 77, Boston College 65--Greg Harvey scored 19 points, Malik Sealy added 18 and Jayson Williams had 17 for the Redmen in a Big East game at Newton, Mass.

St. John’s (13-2, 2-0) led, 15-2, and Boston College (6-6, 0-3) never got closer than eight points thereafter.

No. 18 North Carolina State 74, Temple 71--Rodney Monroe scored 33 points and made six consecutive free throws in the final 2:21 to lead the Wolfpack at Atlantic City, N.J.

Monroe scored all his points from three-point range or the free-throw line.

Ohio State 79, No. 20 Iowa 73--Freshman Jimmy Jackson scored 17 of his 28 points in the first half as the Buckeyes got their second consecutive Big Ten victory over a Top 25 team.

Ohio State (7-4, 2-0), which beat No. 9 Indiana Thursday, held off a Hawkeye rally at Iowa City, Iowa.

No. 21 Memphis St. 97, Virginia Tech 77--The Tigers’ Cheyenne Gibson scored 29 points and Elliott Perry had 22 in a Metro Conference opener at Memphis.

Bimbo Coles led Virginia Tech with 27.

No. 22 Alabama 66, Mississippi 48--Melvin Cheatum scored 19 points for the Crimson Tide in an SEC game at Oxford, Miss.

Mississippi took a 10-3 lead, but Alabama (10-3, 1-1) outscored the Rebels, 17-0, to gain control.

OTHER GAMES

MIDWEST

Michigan State 64, Wisconsin 61--Kirk Manns scored 20 points and Matt Steigenga made two free throws with seven seconds left to lead the Spartans in their Big Ten opener at Madison, Wis.

Ken Redfield scored 17 points for Michigan State (12-2). Wisconsin is 9-5, 0-2.

Purdue 93, Northwestern 77--Stephen Scheffler scored 28 points for the Boilermakers in their Big Ten opener at West Lafayette, Ind.

Chuckie White, who made all eight of his field goal attempts, scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds for Purdue (9-2). Walker Lambiotte scored 22 points for Northwestern (7-4) and Rex Walters added 20.

Kansas State 72, Iowa State 68--Steve Henson, who scored 21 points, made two free throws with 10 seconds left as the Wildcats rallied in their Big Eight opener at Manhattan, Kan.

Jean Derouillere added 17 points, including a jump shot with 52 seconds to play that put Kansas State (8-6) ahead for good, 70-68. Victor Alexander scored 27 points for Iowa State (4-6).

Xavier 86, Marquette 80--Freshman Jamie Gladden scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, including the go-ahead basket with 1:04 left, as the Musketeers won their ninth in a row in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference game at Milwaukee.

SOUTH

Clemson 82, Maryland 77--Elden Campbell scored 26 points to lead the Tigers in an ACC game at Clemson, S.C.

Campbell made 11 of 14 field goals and had 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Dale Davis, playing with a stress fracture in his left foot, scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds for Clemson (8-3, 1-1). Jerrod Mustaf led Maryland (9-4, 1-1) with 20 points.

Florida 97, Georgia 69--Livingston Chatman continued his recovery from an early-season slump with 22 points as the Gators ended a two-game losing streak in an SEC game at Gainesville, Fla.

Chatman, a 6-foot-7 junior, made eight of 13 field goals, six of eight free throws and had eight rebounds.

Vanderbilt 92, Kentucky 85--Scott Draud scored 21 points as the Commodores held on for an SEC victory at Nashville, Tenn.

Vanderbilt (9-2, 2-0) led, 69-50, with 12:37 to play when the Wildcats (5-7, 1-2) rallied. Kentucky twice pulled to within four points, the last at 86-82 with 1:11 left on Derrick Miller’s basket.

Tennessee 82, Mississippi State 77--Ian Lockhart and Greg Bell scored 19 points each and the Volunteers survived a late barrage of three-point baskets by the Bulldogs in an SEC game at Knoxville, Tenn.

Tennessee (8-4, 3-0) led, 76-60, with less than four minutes to play before Mississippi State (8-3, 1-2) put on a rally that subsequently fell short.

Florida St. 113, Southern Mississippi 82--Irving Thomas scored 10 of his 28 points during a second-half surge and Tharon Mayes had 32 points to lead the Seminoles in a Metro Conference game at Tallahassee, Fla.

SOUTHWEST

Texas El Paso 72, Wyoming 62--Marlon Maxey scored 20 points and the Miners made 15 of 23 free throws in the second half in a Western Athletic Conference game at El Paso.

WEST

Brigham Young 63, San Diego State 60--Andy Toolson scored 16 points and Kevin Santiago had 15 for the Cougars in WAC action at San Diego.

New Mexico 63, Colorado State 61--Darrell McGee’s baseline jumper with one second left helped the Lobos stop the Rams’ six-game winning streak in WAC action at Albuquerque, N.M.